The 21-year-old is reportedly a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Police say Shunick is a 5'1" white female, with blonde hair and weights 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel, multi-colored striped shirt, light wash skinny jeans and grey shoes. Shunick departed the residence on a black Schwinn bicycle with gold handle bar grips and wearing a brown leather backpack purse. It is believed that she was going to her residence near the intersection of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Congress Street in Lafayette.

Detectives are asking anyone with any information about the case to contact the Lafayette Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information that may lead to finding her.

Posted: May 22, 2012 6:48 PM by Maddie Garrett Source: KATCThe search for Mickey Shunick has exploded on a national level and on social media. Before there were search parties on the ground, a Facebook campaign to find her was already in full swing.

An online team is working around the clock at the volunteer headquarters on Ryan Street. Their posts and videos are starting to go viral and it's helping to raise awareness and hopefully find Shunick.

Ashley Prado tirelessly scans Facebook, Twitter, BuzzFeed, Reddit... Any online sight that has any post about her close friend Mickey.

"We're really just trying to keep a lot of positivity on the pages, trying to focus on where Mickey could be, where she was last seen, if any of her belongings were found," said Ashley Prado, a close friend of Shunick.

Prado tirelessly scans Facebook, Twitter, BuzzFeed, Tumbr, Reddit, and online sight that has any post about her close friend. Shunick's story is spreading like wildfire, making it to national news media such as CNN, Good Morning America, Nancy Grace and Huffington Post.

The attention is due in part to the social media campaigns and two YouTube videos, that gained over 10,000 views within a matter of hours.

"It's so wonderful to see everyone jump on board and spread this around, to see that it's been picked up everywhere, it's amazing," said Josh Coen, heading up the online efforts.

Coen said he made the videos as another way to reach the masses and hopefully find Shunick.

"The video is more of a call to arms, to "join our army" basically is what the video is saying," said Coen. "To show people that we're not giving up and we're never going to give up until we find her."

Until then, they post and share, trying to reach as many people as possible.

"She's one of us, you know, if it was any other one of us missing I know that she'd be here," said Prado.

Friends of Shunick created a Facebook page called "Find Mickey Shunick Now" with videos and information posts. You can find a link to that page on our KATC Facebook page.

And be sure to watch Good Morning America on KATC Wednesday morning for the first national interview with Shunick's family.

LAFAYETTE, La. – Monday was supposed to be a day of celebration for Michaela "Mickey" Shunick.

By Megan Wyatt, The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser

After all, it was her 22nd birthday.

Instead, it was the third day the senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette hadn't been heard from, and another day of searching since she left a close friend's house on her bicycle early Saturday.

Over the weekend, online posts spread the call virally through social media. Dozens of volunteers hit the streets Sunday in a street-by-street search that yielded no solid leads.

Early Monday, FBI agents joined local and state police in the search.

Michaela "Mickey" Shunick: Last seen on her bicycle

"Right now, we're still treating it as a missing person," said Cpl. Paul Mouton, spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department. "But obviously we're not ruling out any foul play. Our main concern is being able to follow up those leads that we're seeing in getting any evidence on when and where she went missing."

Shunick has light blonde hair, is 5 foot, 1 inch tall and weighs 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel multi-colored striped shirt, light-wash skinny jeans and gray shoes, riding a Schwinn bicycle with a black frame and gold handlebars and carrying a brown leather backpack-purse. She reportedly left her friend's home here around 2 a.m.

Those close to Shunick say she always carried a can of mace in her front pocket while bicycling.

Her mother described her daughter as "sunny and sunnier."

"Mickey is just universally liked," Rowe said. "She does not have a dark side. She has two bright, sunny sides, and no one should want to hurt her."

Tom Shunick, Mickey's father, expressed anger that the investigation could not begin in full force until Monday but was grateful for the work of volunteers dedicated to the cause.

"None of the video cameras got checked over the weekend because the managers weren't in," he said. "If somebody has abducted her and taken her on the interstate or something, they got a two-day head start."

In addition to distributing posters offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Mickey Shunick's whereabouts, volunteers scoured the streets again Monday hoping to find eyewitnesses or evidence of suspicious activity. They also used maps to mark the route friends believe Shunick would have used to bike from a friend's house to her home.

In Indiana, police are still trying to find another college student, Lauren Spierer, then 20, of Edgemont, N.Y., who went missing June 3 in Bloomington, Ind., on her way home from a friend's apartment after a night of partying.

In Louisiana, police, friends, family and volunteers continue to scour the neighborhood looking for clues and will have a candlelight vigil Tuesday night.

"Someone, somewhere knows what happened." said her sister, Charlie Shunick, stifling a sob.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Lafayette Police at 337-291-8633.

The reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Michaela “Mickey” Shunick has officially been increased to $25,000, on the same afternoon as an official search party continues to look for the woman who has been missing since early Saturday morning.

A volunteer search party continued the search Wednesday for 22-year-old Shunick, whose disappearance has garnered national attention.

Volunteers searched Acadiana Park for the missing woman. They also gathered at the Ryan Street home that serves as the volunteer headquarters. Businesses such as Raising Canes, Papa Johns, Winn Dixie and Office Depot have agreed to donate items to help this effort.

Chris Lavergne said he is helping with the search “because I have a little girl.” He also said he felt compelled to help because he knows the area very well.

Mickey Shunick Disappearance: Searchers Follow Bike Route Where Missing Student Was Last Seen

By YUNJI DE NEISMay 24, 2012

Dozens of people gathered to ride the route presumably taken by missing Louisiana college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick when she vanished on her bike last Saturday.

Friends and searchers took to the route at dusk Thursday, following the path on which Shunick set out in the early hours of Saturday morning. FBI, U.S. Marshals and local police are involved in the search that they are treating as a missing-person case, but have not ruled out foul play.

Shunick, 22, a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, left friend Brettly Wilson's house on her bike just before 2 a.m. Saturday after a night out, and hasn't been heard from since.

"I asked her to be safe ... I saw her get to the driveway and that was the last time I saw her," Wilson said.

Friends and family held a candle light vigil Tuesday night, and announced a reward of $20,000 for tips leading to her whereabouts. Searches by K-9 units, police and volunteers have turned up no hints of what happened, but her family remains hopeful.

The FBI, state and local police, and nearly a thousand volunteers are searching this morning, but have found no trace of the young woman. Friends say she wasn't drinking, and that Shunick was an avid cyclist, so riding her bike at that hour was not unusual.

Shunick's older sister says she never would have left on her own, and that Saturday was her brother's graduation. Monday was Mickey's own 22nd birthday, and the two had big plans.

"She's my mini-me. She's one of my best friends and I just miss her and I want to know what's going on," sister Charlie Shunick said through tears.

For her father, not knowing is the hardest part.

"If she has been taken by somebody, where is she? What are they doing to her? It's better being around people like over here. It's tougher when you're alone at night," Tom Shunick told ABC News.

Her family says they can't think of any reason anybody might want to harm Shunick, and her father said although he's grateful for the search efforts, he wishes the search had started earlier.

"None of the video cameras got checked over the weekend because the managers weren't in and waited two days to check the video cameras," he told Lafayette newspaper The Advertiser. "If somebody has abducted her and taken her on the interstate [highway] or something, they got a two-day head start."

Mickey Shunick always carried mace when she rode her bike, her family says, adding that they will keep searching, no matter how long it takes.

"We're going to see her soon, we're going to get her home and this is going to be over soon," friend Wilson said.

Shunick's family is offering a $25,000 reward for any information in the case. They say that they hope everyone is on the lookout for her, including those in states that border Louisiana.

The family plans to send out a robo-call today to the entire parish -- which consists of hundreds of thousands of people in the region -- hoping that someone knows where Mickey is.

Shunick is 5-foot-1 and 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel multi-colored striped shirt, light-wash skinny jeans and gray shoes.

Shunick Family(LAFAYETTE, La.) -- Investigators who've expanded their search after combing the area where Michaela "Mickey" Shunick disappeared found surveillance video showing a glimpse of someone riding a bicycle who they believe could be the Louisiana student.

The footage is too blurry to tell whether the person is Shunick, a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, police said. The 22-year-old left a friend's house on her bike last week after a night out, and hasn't been heard from since.

As investigators and the woman's family expand the search, even sending out a recorded plea for help mentioning a $25,000 reward for information, some people in the area where she vanished have begun to wonder whether Shunick was abducted at all.

"What concerns us is, where is her bicycle?" Det. Stephen Bajat of the Lafayette police department said. "If it is some kind of abduction, most people would snatch and go on and not concern themselves with the bicycle."

Investigators searching for any clues have found no cellphone, purse or virtually any trace of Shunick since she left her friend's house on her bicycle at 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

Hundreds of people from the community and beyond have come to aid in the search for Shunick. So many are coming to help that the volunteer headquarters had to be moved to the nearby university to accommodate them all.

Now Equusearch, the well-known search and recovery group, has turned out in force.

"We're hoping for the best," Tim Miller of Equusearch said. "We don't sugarcoat anything. It does not look good, doesn't look good at all, but we believe in miracles."

A benefit concert is scheduled for the weekend to increase the $25,000 reward for information on what happened to Shunick.

She is 5-foot-1 and 115 pounds, and was last seen wearing a pastel multi-colored striped shirt, light-wash skinny jeans and gray shoes.

Does this Brettly guy who was her close friend seem "off" to anyone else? He says they were just platonic friends who were planning to move to new Orleans and live together. I'm just wondering if maybe she decided she didn't want to live with him and he got angry? He was the last person to see her when he says she left his home at 2 am. Although he does seem awfully broken up about her being gone.

Louisiana authorities are eyeing a white pickup truck seen in the same surveillance tape as a bicyclist believed to be a missing college student.

Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, 22, was last seen around 2 a.m. May 19 leaving a house party in a neighborhood popular with college students.

The anthropology major at the University of Louisiana, who friends describe as "responsible," left the home on a black bicycle, and now authorities are seeking more information about a white four door pickup truck captured on video moments after Mickey was seen.

"The first thing that raised a flag for us is when she didn't show up to her brother's high school graduation on Saturday," Ashley Says, a close friend of Shunick told Fox44.

"She's not a rebel. She always has a can of mace in her front pocket, she obeys all traffic laws.She loved to have fun, but she's really responsible," Says told Fox44.

Shunick's friends have organized search parties and are sharing her story on social media, desperate for clues.

"She loves life," Says told Fox44. "She's a great person, and we’re all just trying to keep positive thoughts."

Two fishermen found the bicycle of missing Louisiana student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick today, more than a week after the 22-year-old woman went missing after leaving a friend's home on her bike.

Police found the bike early this morning under a bridge at Whiskey Bay on the Atchafalaya River, after being tipped off by the fishermen.

Shunick's family members were brought to the scene and confirmed that the bike is Shunick's black and gold Schwinn. Police are not releasing details on the bike's condition.

Police are planning to perform a grid search of the area where the bike was found on ATVs. Officers are searching the Atchafalaya River by boat, but the river's current was too strong to allow for divers this afternoon, police said.

The discovery comes two days after investigators said they found surveillance video showing Shunick on a bicycle the night she disappeared, and they are trying to track down information about a white pickup truck seen on the same video.

The surveillance images appear to corroborate elements of the timeline surrounding Shunick's last known whereabouts because it is believed they show her riding her bicycle home from a friend's house at 1:47 and 1:48 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, as the friend had described.

The images show the bicyclist believed to be Shunick, a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, on St. John Street and St. Landry Street in Lafayette, La.

According to a news release from the Lafayette Police Department, "Investigators are seeking information regarding a white newer model four door pickup truck, which was captured on video after Mickey Shunick traveled on both streets."

Investigators earlier had found other surveillance video showing a glimpse of someone riding a bicycle who they believed could be Shunick, but police said that video was too blurry to tell for sure if it was her.

Shunick left friend Brettly Wilson's house on her bike last week after a night out, and hasn't been heard from since.

Before the newest surveillance video, investigators searching for any clues have found no cell phone, purse or virtually any trace of Shunick after she left Wilson's house on her bicycle.

As investigators and the woman's family expanded the search, even sending out a recorded plea for help mentioning a $25,000 reward for information, some people in the area where she vanished have begun to wonder whether Shunick was abducted at all.

"What concerns us is, where is her bicycle?" Det. Stephen Bajat of the Lafayette police department said. "If it is some kind of abduction, most people would snatch and go on and not concern themselves with the bicycle."

Past instances of what were first thought to be abductions have eventually been discovered to be entirely different criminal situations. In 2003, a Texas woman was convicted of hitting a man while intoxicated, and then in a panic left his body in a park to cover the crime. A friend ultimately tipped off police, leading to her arrest.

"The only way to solve this is if someone comes forward with a tip -- and [investigators] need the public," former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said.

Hundreds of people from the community and beyond have come to aid in the search for Shunick. So many are coming to help that the volunteer headquarters had to be moved to the nearby university to accommodate them all.

Now Equusearch, the well-known search and recovery group, has turned out in force.

"We're hoping for the best," Tim Miller of Equusearch said. "We don't sugarcoat anything. It does not look good, doesn't look good at all, but we believe in miracles."

Wilson, the last person to see her the night she vanished, has turned to the Web with his plea for assistance in the search. He has posted a YouTube clip seeking help via social media.

"This is the power of social media ... To bring back somebody, and end a family's heartbreak … You have the chance to extend the information about this young woman to everyone you know," Wilson says in the clip.

Friends and family held a candle light vigil Tuesday night, and announced a reward for tips leading to her whereabouts. Searches by K-9 units, police and volunteers have turned up no hints of what happened, but her family remains hopeful.

A benefit concert occurred this weekend to increase the $25,000 reward for information on what happened to Shunick.

Shunick is 5-foot-1 and 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pastel multi-colored striped shirt, light-wash skinny jeans and gray shoes.

Police found the bike early this morning under a bridge at Whiskey Bay on the Atchafalaya River, after being tipped off by the fishermen... Officers are searching the Atchafalaya River by boat, but the river's current was too strong to allow for divers this afternoon, police said.

This doesn't sound too encouraging for a recovery of a body--a strong river current, I mean.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Police in Bloomington say they have contacted authorities in Louisiana about their search for a college student whose disappearance has similarities to that of an Indiana University student who has been missing for nearly a year.

Spokesman Capt. Joe Qualters told the Herald Times (http://bit.ly/MT3JdG ) that Bloomington police, who are investigating the June 3, 2011, disappearance of Lauren Spierer, have contacted Louisiana authorities who are searching for University of Louisiana student Michaela “Mickey” Shunick, who has been missing since May 19.

Shunick, 21, was last seen shortly before 2 a.m., when she left a friend’s house in an area popular with college students in Lafayette, La., to go home. Her bicycle was found Sunday in a remote, swampy area under a highway bridge in Iberville Parish, about 25 miles from where she was last seen.

Spierer, 21, of Greenburgh, N.Y., disappeared about 4:30 a.m. after a night out with friends at a popular student hangout in downtown Bloomington.

Both women are blonde and petite. Shunick is described as white, with long, wavy blonde hair. She is 5-foot-1 and 115 pounds. Spierer is described as white, with shoulder length blonde hair. She is 4-foot-11 and 95 lbs.

Police in Louisiana also want to learn more about a white pickup that is shown in a security video that also shows a bicyclist thought to be Shunick about the time she disappeared.

Police in Indiana also investigated a white pickup caught on video that had driven by the area Spierer was last reportedly seen. Investigators initially thought the truck circled the block suspiciously, but later determined a time discrepancy between video cameras was the reason the truck appeared to go by twice.

As the investigation into the disappearance of Michaela "Mickey" Shunick enters its second week, police and volunteers aren't giving up hope that the missing bicyclist — whose case has generated unprecedented community support — will be found safe.

"I think everybody — the investigative team and myself — feels that it is way too early to quit. Way too early," Lafayette Chief of Police Jim Craft said Friday. "I can tell you that the investigators are here every day for long hours. We've got to force them to go home. ... The longer this goes on, we're not going to be able to keep the same amount of resources we have dedicated to this case, but one week is not long enough for us to say we have to scale back."

Instead, investigators are handling a torrent of new tips and leads that began pouring in after surveillance videos released Friday showed a woman believed to be Shunick riding her bicycle along Versailles Boulevard and St. Landry Street around 1:47 a.m. May 19. A white, four-door pickup truck of unknown make and model is also seen in the video, traveling in the opposite direction, about one minute after Shunick passes.

"We've actually been flooded with information on potential trucks and why they are suspicious, that we should check a residence because there is a truck there. The tips have included anything and everything," Lafayette Police Department spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton said Saturday. "It's been atremendous response."

Police said they hope the release of photos from two other surveillance cameras Saturday afternoon will yield more information.

Mouton said every tip is investigated, no matter how minute the details. One of the hundreds of tips includes information from a woman who told KATC-TV3 on Friday that she got a ride from a man in a white pickup about two months ago. The woman, Tasha Patterson, said the man dropped her off after a short distance, but had offered her money in exchange for sex and said he looked for attractive girls to pick up.

So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the alleged incident involving Patterson is connected to Shunick's disappearance.

"That tip has come across and it will be investigated just like all of the others," Mouton said.

While local searches continue, Craft said his detectives will also still use national databases, send out nationwide bulletins and contact law enforcement across the country, asking them to check places such as hospitals, jails and morgues for anyone meeting Shunick's description or any Jane Does.

"So far, we have no matches or similar incidents, but we will keep looking," he said.

Going into the next few days, Mouton said the same intense investigative procedure will continue, whether or not the information is related to the truck seen in the video.

"The truck is a vehicle of interest, but we're not going to rule out anything else," he said. "It's something we have that is tangible that we can at least investigate and look into."

What makes this different?

Craft said the investigation includes conducting on-the-ground searches, looking for any leads, clues or evidence that will give detectives a better sense of where exactly Shunick disappeared and what may have happened to her. His department also is following their standard protocol that is used in all missing persons cases.

"You try to establish a timeline as far back as you can, looking for at least the last 72 hours of the person's activities. Then you focus on who was the last person to see them or talk to them," Craft said. "You go from there and you try to determine if there is any information that may indicate if she talked to someone and decided to go somewhere with them, things along those lines."

Craft said the protocol also includes vetting the last people to see the missing person. In this case, Shunick last saw her friend, Brettly Wilson, at his home at 100 Ryan St. just before 2 a.m. May 19. Wilson has never been publicly considered a suspect or person of interest, and Mouton said during a Friday news conference that Wilson has been "very cooperative" with the investigation and police are confident with his statements.

Craft said that nine of 10 missing persons cases in Lafayette fall into one of two categories — runaways, usually teenagers who return home within a couple of days; and senior citizens who wander off from nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Most of the time, those people are also found within a day or two, Craft said.

"That's how it differs. We're on our sixth or seventh day," Craft said Friday, "and there is absolutely no sign of her, no evidence of how or where or when she disappeared. He called it "discouraging that ... we still don't have a location on her cellphone, her wallet, any clothing, the bicycle or her."

The lack of progress isn't for a lack of trying. About 430 tips have flowed into the tips line designated to the Shunick case, and hundreds more came Friday night and Saturday after the surveillance footage was released. Craft said police have responded to several reports of cellphones found in coulees, none of which belonged to Shunick. Multiple sightings of suspicious clothing spotted outdoors have been analyzed, but none belong to the missing woman. Several possible sightings have been reported, but none of them checked out, either.

Craft said police thought they may have had a break last weekend, just hours after Shunick went missing, when they received a call about a woman seen under suspicious circumstances. That case turned out to be a domestic situation from another jurisdiction and is not connected to the Shunick case.

"Certainly, the longer it goes on, the easier it is to get discouraged, but we've got an extremely dedicated group of people," Craft said. "They have really stepped up to the plate and I can't say enough good things about them."

Community outpouringWhat also makes the Shunick case unique is the level of outpouring from the Lafayette community. Local businesses have donated supplies, money and food. The Downtown Development Authority helped organize a vigil Tuesday night and a benefit concert scheduled for today. Hundreds of people have volunteered their time, so much so that on Saturday night the volunteer group's headquarters was moved to Blackham Coliseum to give people enough space to work.

After one week, it would be logical to think that the attention might begin to wane a little — not because of a lack of caring, but because of the short attention spans in today's society.

Instead, the mission to find Mickey is getting bigger, not smaller, said volunteer coordinator Josh Coen.

"I checked this morning (Saturday) and we had about 320 to 350 people signed up to do foot searches, which is incredible," Coen said. "We've had 2.5 million hits on our Facebook page within the last week and 50,000 people have interacted with our Facebook page, whether it's likes, comments or sharing. We're getting calls from 'Good Morning America,' 'America's Most Wanted,' CNN "» This is something that just continues to spread, which we are thankful for. The farther we can spread the message, the better it is."

On that official Facebook page, Shunick's friend Ashley Says wrote on Saturday that the continued moral support, sharing of information through social media and volunteerism is helping to keep everybody going.

"Mickey Shunick is my best friend and having all of you guys helping has taken extreme weight off of my shoulders," Says wrote. "I know that if Mickey has any idea of what we are all doing to find her she has tons of hope. Please keep sending your love and prayers to her and her family. We seriously cannot guys enough! Let's bring Mickey home!!!!"

Craft said Lafayette officers conduct daily briefings with volunteers and have explained to them how to handle any suspicious items they might find. The assistance from civilians is welcome, he said.

"We consider them a valuable resource," Craft said. "They have been invaluable in helping us to check out things. I'd say it's been a positive relationship. They are out there every single day."

With the social media presence and national media presence growing, Coen said he thinks the search efforts will be intensified, rather than diminished, next week.

"We're getting bigger and bigger every day," he said. "The one thing we keep telling ourselves every day is that we're getting her home tonight, and we are. That's why we are doing all of this. She's coming home tonight."

I'm wondering if he dumped her bike on the way out of town and took her away somewhere? Not sure if still being alive would be better or worse for her tho, if he's torturing her.

On JVM tonight they were trying to tie in not only the missing girl from Indiana, but also Holly Bobo and some girl from NC, because they were all petite blondes. I kind of doubt that they're all related.

Police have ruled out two "vehicles of interest" in the case of missing college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick.Police in Louisiana have identified the operators and occupants of two "vehicles of interest" for which they had been looking in connection with the case of missing college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick.

"We have identified the driver of the car and one of the trucks," Cpl. Paul Mouton, a spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department, told The Huffington Post.

Police announced last week they had been looking for the vehicles, an older model four-door car and a white four-door pickup truck with a bed cover. The vehicles were captured by the same surveillance cameras in Lafayette that had recorded a cyclist, believed to be Shunick, peddling through the area.

"Investigators have ruled out any involvement by these individuals, and they offered no additional clues for the investigation," Mouton said.

Investigators are still trying to identify the owner/operator of a white, newer model Chevrolet Z-71 pickup truck that was also captured on surveillance cameras.

A 22-year-old senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana, Shunick was last seen in the early morning hours of May 19, when she left a friend's home on Ryan Street in Lafayette. Shunick was bicycling to her home on Governor Miro Drive, a distance of about four miles, when she vanished without a trace.

On Sunday, two fishermen found Shunick's black Schwinn bicycle beneath the Whiskey Bay I-10 Bridge, in a remote, swampy area of Iberville Parish. The location is located about 25 miles east of Lafayette.

According to Mouton, the bike was almost completely submerged, with the exception of a small section of the frame. Once removed from the water, it was evident that the bike's rear rim and tire had been damaged. Authorities believe the bike was deliberately dumped in the waterway on the day Shunick disappeared. The bicycle is currently being processed by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Detectives are hopeful that forensic experts can find evidence on the frame, handle bars and handgrips, Mouton said.

Authorities said it is too soon to tell if Shunick was the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

"We just don't want to assume that is what it is yet," Mouton said. "We're waiting on the crime lab to inspect it."

Shunick's mother, Nancy Shunick, did not immediately return calls for comment from The Huffington Post on Wednesday.

Shunick is described as a white female, 5-feet-1-inch tall and approximately 115 pounds. She has shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. Shunick has a small tattoo of a bicycle on her right outer ankle and a nose ring on her left nostril. She was last seen wearing a pastel striped shirt, light-wash denim skinny jeans and silver ankle boots. She was carrying a light brown leather backpack, a black-and-yellow Vera Bradley wallet, a black Verizon slider phone and a small pink container of pepper spray.

Police in the Lafayette area encourage anyone with any information regarding Shunick's whereabouts to contact them at 337-291-8600. Shunick's family has created a website and a Facebook page devoted to the search.

Authorities in Louisiana say they do not believe there is a link between the disappearance of University of Louisiana student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick and that of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer.

It has been almost two weeks since the disappearance of Shunick, a 22-year-old senior anthropology major. An avid cyclist, Shunick was last seen in the early morning hours of May 19, when she left a friend's home on Ryan Street in Lafayette. Shunick was cycling to her home on Gov. Miro Drive -- a distance of about four miles -- when she vanished without a trace.

Spierer, 20, was last seen on June 3, 2011, around 4:30 a.m. just a few blocks from her Smallwood Plaza apartment in Indiana. Earlier in the night, Spierer had visited a nearby sports bar that closes at 3 a.m. When she left the establishment, she left behind her shoes and cellphone, and reportedly went to an acquaintance's apartment before deciding to walk home. What happened to her after that remains a mystery.

Despite a distance of about 900 miles between the two cases, there was almost immediate speculation among armchair detectives and several media outlets that the two cases could be connected. The similarities between the young women and the circumstances -- two petite blond women who disappeared after nights out with friends -- were too coincidental to ignore, it was suggested.

Nevertheless, the two agencies investigating the cases -- the Lafayette Police Department and the Bloomington Police Department -- have compared notes and "found no connections," Lafayette police said.

With regard to Shunick, police have reviewed area surveillance camera footage, revisited the route they believe she took on her bicycle and have conducted multiple searches, all to no avail.

On Sunday, two fishermen found Shunick's black Schwinn bicycle beneath the Whiskey Bay I-10 Bridge, in a remote, swampy area of Iberville Parish. The location is located about 25 miles east of Lafayette.

According to Cpl. Paul Mouton, a spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department, the bike was almost completely submerged, with the exception of a small section of the frame. Once removed from the water, it was evident that the bike's rear rim and tire had been damaged. Authorities believe the bike was purposely dumped in the waterway on the day Shunick disappeared. The bicycle is currently being processed by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab.

"We're waiting on the forensic experts at the state police crime lab to inspect it. Hopefully they can get some hard evidence," Mouton told The Huffington Post.

The discovery of the bicycle prompted searches of Iberville Parish involving air, land and water resources, but nothing more of interest was found. Those searches have since been suspended.

Prior to the discovery of the bicycle, authorities had released photos of three vehicles of interest that were seen in Lafayette shortly after surveillance cameras captured a cyclist, believed to be Shunick, peddling through the area. The vehicles have been described as a truck with a bed cover and tinted windows, a white four-door Chevrolet Z71 and an '80s or '90s four-door vehicle with body work on the right-rear quarter panel. Police said they are interested in locating the vehicles and speaking with the drivers.

Shunick's mother, Nancy Shunick, did not immediately return calls for comment from The Huffington Post on Wednesday. Last week, Shunick told HuffPost that she feared something terrible had happened to her daughter.

Shunick is described as a white female, 5-feet-1-inch tall and approximately 115 pounds. She has shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. Shunick has a small tattoo of a bicycle on her right outer ankle and a nose ring on her left nostril. She was last seen wearing a pastel striped shirt, light-wash denim skinny jeans and silver ankle boots. She was carrying a light brown leather backpack, a black-and-yellow Vera Bradley wallet, a black Verizon slider phone and a small pink container of pepper spray.

Police in the Lafayette area encourage anyone with any information regarding Shunick's whereabouts to contact them at 337-291-8600. Shunick's family has created a website and a Facebook page devoted to the search.

Volunteers at Blackham Coliseum who had been working on the search effort to find missing Mickey Shunick were given a break. Just before Tuesday afternoon's news conference, a message posted on the Find Mickey Shunick Now Facebook page stated "the volunteer portion of the search effort is indefinitely suspended."

Tuesday marked the 10th day of the Shunick search. The 22-year-old UL student's bike was found on day eight, Sunday morning, under the Whiskey Bay bridge on Interstate 10.

Josh Coen, a 22-year-old friend of Shunick and social media coordinator for the volunteer effort, said the suspension was a unanimous decision from friends, family and other volunteers.

According to the post, the suspension includes "food, beverage, and material donations of any kind as well as manpower coming in to participate in the search effort."

"We're not encouraging anyone to come (to Blackham Coliseum) for a few days," Coen said. "We're taking a few days so we can get back on our feet."

However, a few volunteers from Texas Equusearch will still be on hand if something happens, and the Facebook page will consistently be updated, as it was before. Already-scheduled benefits will still take place. The volunteer effort also could be reinstated as early as this weekend, Coen said.

Eileen Hanson, volunteer coordinator for the effort, said the suspension changes nothing that she's been doing.

On Tuesday, Hanson, two other volunteers, and some children were creating buttons with Shunick's face on it.

"We'll continue to do just what we've been doing," Hanson said. "We want to make sure her face is out there, visually, in the community, and that her name is on the lips of everyone. We're not putting this to bed."

In talking with psychologists about the psyche of the volunteer, George Bonanno, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, said what volunteers are going through right now — the searching and unknown factors — is the hardest part.

"The worst part is probably right now, because everyone who is searching is aware of the fact that she could be in a very bad situation or dead," Bonanno said. "With people who are searching right now, you might anticipate depression or anxiety. To keep determined is probably exhausting, but it's not a sign of denial or weakness."

Will Marling, the executive director of the National Organization for Victim Assistance in Virginia, said his organization has worked with these kinds of events. Marling said maintaining hope can be extremely difficult.

"The missing persons dimensions is extremely traumatic and difficult because the goal is finding someone alive," Marling said. "There are millions of missing people in the world. That creates struggles for folks, particularly family members, who don't want to give up hope. Maintaining hope takes a lot of strength, energy and resilience."

Though it can be difficult to be hopeful, Hanson is thinking of the best situation possible. For her, the break is a sign that volunteers, family and whoever else is working on the search need to "process what's happened," she said.

Though the volunteer effort has been suspended, pieces of information such as the bike discovery and the release of surveillance photos showing Shunick on her bicycle have kept hope alive for the volunteers.

"Any kind of information we get, we deal with it as positively as we can," Coen said. "It's not about fatigue. Obviously, we are going to be tired. It's not about me or my feelings."

Emotionally, volunteering can take its toll, Coen added, but he said there is nothing as important as finding Shunick.

"There are difficulties in everything at this grand level," Coen said. "We deal with it when it comes up, and we move on. We need to keep reiterating that it's not about any of us. If it goes on longer, it goes on longer."

Hanson said whenever she has discouraging moments, she thinks about God holding Shunick.

"Whenever I'm frustrated, I stay in deep prayer, just asking God to continue to hold her," Hanson said. "Mickey is still out there. She's somewhere near us. They need to take a break, then we can be available and supportive in whatever efforts (the family) needs."

Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft, though he offered no details, confirms a tip The Independent received that detectives investigating the disappearance of UL student Mickey Shunick have interviewed 19-year-old Rocky James Mcgee in connection with the case.

Craft directed all other questions to spokesman Paul Mouton.

“We have questioned many people in connection with this case,” Mouton says, declining to confirm whether Mcgee or anyone associated with him is still being questioned. “That information is part of the ongoing investigation and not public record,” he adds. “We have no one in custody. We have never had anyone in custody.”

Mouton says he does not know what kind of vehicle Mcgee drives, nor would he release the information if he did. “It is part of an ongoing investigation,” he says.

Two years ago the Teche News reported that Mcgee was involved in an automobile accident in Breaux Bridge in which Amin Jalaudin Amlani, 35, of Breaux Bridge was killed. The car Amlani was driving was struck by another vehicle being driven by Mcgee, then 17, also of Breaux Bridge, the paper reported. Click here to see an image of Amlani’s vehicle.

Mcgee, who could not be reached for comment, was initially charged with OWI and felony hit and run with a fatality, according to St. Martin Parish Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars. The ADA says two other individuals, Bryan Marks and Victor Simon, were in the vehicle with Mcgee. “None of them could be held criminally responsible because they were not the operator,” Cedars says.

Cedars says he initially tried to charge Mcgee with vehicular homicide but would have had to prove that intoxication caused the accident, and the evidence supported that Amlani had turned into Mcgee’s car. The ADA was able to secure a guilty plea to felony hit and run with a fatality. Mcgee is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 21; he faces up to seven years at hard labor.

Cedars says Mcgee was not prosecuted on the OWI charge, which would have been a misdemeanor. “By his pleading guilty to felony hit and run, there was no reason to prosecute OWI,” he says. “We didn’t give anything up on that. I went after the bigger charge. We intend in August to seek a hard labor sentence on this guy.”

This is a full timeline of events from the day Mickey Shunick disappeared, up to the very latest information we know.

May 18, 2012: 10:15 pm: Mickey arrived at music venue and bar, Artmosphere, to see a band and hang out with friends."After about like an hour or two of being there she already started making mention of being ready to go home, getting something to eat," explained friend Brettly Wilson.

May 19, 2012: 12:44 am: Mickey and Wilson left Artmosphere and rode their bikes back to his house on Ryan Street. They then went to Taco Bell on Congress in his car to grab a bite to eat. Video surveillance confirmed this, showing them in the drive through at 1:24 am.1:31 am: Mickey received a call from a friend. It was the last time her phone was used. Wilson said around 1:45 am Mickey set out on her bike to go home near Congress Street and Ambassador Caffrey from his home at 100 Ryan St.

"She checked her bike, took out her mace, made sure it was on. I walked her out, watched her get to the drive way then I closed the door and locked it," recalled Wilson.

At approximately 1:47 am she's caught on camera on Versailles Blvd traveling towards St. John Street. She then traveled on St. John Street and crossed over University Avenue, continuing west on St. Landry Street where she was captured on video at approximately 1:48 am. It's not uncommon that she would ride her bike home late at night. It was her primary means of transportation and according to her friends always carried mace. Later in the day, she never showed up to brother's graduation and that's when family and friends started to become worried. They called police to report her missing at 6:30 p.m. Police put her in the missing person's national database and began interviewing neighbors in the Ryan Street area.

She is 5'1" tall, weighing about 115 pounds, has shoulder length curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a small tattoo of a bicycle on her right outer ankle and a nose ring on her left nostril.She was last seen wearing a pastel multicolored striped shirt, light wash denim skinny jeans, and silver ankle boots. She was also carrying a light brown leather backpack, a black and yellow Vera Bradley wallet, a black Verizon slider phone and a small pink container of pepper spray.

May 20, 2012: The first search party of more than 100 people is organized to search the area by Shunick's friends and family. They start posting missing persons fliers all over her predicted bike route. Also a private donor not only hired a private investigator, but donated $10,000 for information leading to Shunick being found. Police declare a missing persons case and start the investigation.

May 21, 2012: More volunteers show up at 100 Ryan St. leaving donations, supplies, or offering to help search the city for evidence. The FBI and State Police also offer their services to aid Lafayette PD in the investigation.

"One of the difficult tasks is because of where she left the Saint Street area, to the destination where we believe she was traveling to. It's such a large area. It's a very wide scope for us to look at. We're canvasing and checking a lot of different businesses for video evidence," Corporal Paul Mouton said.

Police also open up a tip line that is staffed 24/7 for people to call. A youtube video is posted highlighting her disappearance by BikeLafayette and gets thousands of views.

Today also happens to be Mickey's 22nd birthday.

May 22, 2012: The $10,000 reward is raised to $20,000 hoping to entice someone to speak up. Mickey's story is also reaching national media outlets and that evening a tribute at Parc Sans Souci saw hundreds of people come out in support of Mickey and her family. Over the past four days more than 750 people have volunteered their time to search for Mickey and clues into her disappearance.

"We're a mess," said Mickey's mom Nancy Rowe. "We try to stay together out in public and then we go home and fall apart."

May 23, 2012: More than 70 officers across different agencies are working the case. A solidarity bike ride was also organized that rode the path that Mickey may have taken. According to organizer Brettly Wilson, the ride was organized for bicyclists to show solidarity in the effort to find one of their own. Wilson also says the bike ride is for search supporters to "take back the road." At this point none of Shunick's belongings have been found nor any evidence to her whereabouts. The reward for clues leading to Mickey is increased and capped at $25,000. Lamar Advertising Company has donated billboards that display Mickey's picture all along the Gulf Coast.

May 24, 2012: Volunteer headquarters are moved from 100 Ryan St. to Our Lady of Wisdom Center on the U-L campus. EquuSearch, a Texas based company, is brought in to coordinate and lead search activity. Police are asking businesses to check survelliance tapes from May 19th from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. hoping to catch a glimpse of Mickey. A new website www.findmickeynow.com starts up.

May 25, 2012: Police begin daily media briefings at 3 p.m. At this point no articles of signifcance have been found. Searches by plane and helicopter haven't turned up anything. During the evening police released survelliance video of Mickey caught riding her bike along Versailles Blvd toward St. John Street, crossed University and continued on St. Landry Street.

The same night we aired these pictures, a Lafayette woman came forward saying she had been approached by a man in a white truck two months ago. He asked if she needed a ride, which she accepted, and the entire ride he was asking her for sex in return for money. She was dropped off with out incident. It is not none if these situations are related.

May 26, 2012: Police release photos of two additional vehicles in the vicinity that Mickey was caught on tape, and also a better photo of the one on the orginial truck.

The Vermilion River is also given a thorough search with the aid of volunteer boats and the sheriffs department. "The river length in Lafayette Parish is rather large, so we're going to continue to go up and down the waterway and continue to search and support any of the searchers that are out here in case they run into any problems," Captain Kip Judice said.

The Volunteer Search Center was also moved to it's current location at Blackham Coliseum.

May 27, 2012: Mickey's bike is found under the Whiskey Bay Bridge on I-10 near exit 127. Two fishermen saw the bike partially submerged and notified police. Police have expanded the search to that area.

"I'm relieved her bike was found and she wasn't. That means she is still alive somewhere. They dumped her bike at the exit so that means she is still somewhere alive," said volunteer Lindsey Wills.

The bike was found to be submerged except for a small section of the frame. In addition, the bike's rear tire was found to be damaged.

May 28, 2012: Police say they believe Shunick's disappearance is isolated despite being asked by other agencies to investigate whether Mickey's disappearance could be related to a crime in their area. Investigators are also checking with known sex offenders in the area where Shunick was captured on surveillance riding her bicycle, finding out where they were when Mickey went missing. The search and Whiskey Bay was called off with no more evidence found. Schunick' s bike has been sent to a crime lab for tests.

May 29, 2012: According to police they are still following up on "thousands of leads." They have also found other items of interest but do not say what they have found.

May 30, 2012: Police have ruled out the white 4 door pick up and the passenger car. They are still waiting to question the driver of the Chevy Z-71 (one of the vehicles released on 5/26/2012).

EquuSearch continues to lead searches from Blackham Coliseum.

A secondary search was done at Whiskey Bay when a sonar image, in the area where Mickey Shunick's bike was found, showed something that could have had relevance to Shunick case. A dive team was then called out to search the waters. It turns out that the image seen was actually some sort of wooden item, possibly a log of some sort. No evidence was found relating to the Mickey Shunick Case tonight.

Volunteer searches were suspended today, so they could have a day to re-group and rest.

June 1, 2012: Starting at 7:00 p.m., an answering machine will record all tips called into the Lafayette Police Dept. in the Mickey Shunick case, however detectives will continue to answer phones during normal business hours Monday through Friday. "The number of tips received by the Lafayette Police Department has decreased and it is no longer feasible to answer the tips line 24 hours a day," said Cpl. Paul Mouton. During weekends and after hours, investigators will periodically check messages.

After eight days, Texas EquuSearch leaves Lafayette since no new leads have been discovered since the bike was found. They vow to come back if new evidence is found.

June 5, 2012: A new search group out of Texas arrives in town with plans to start searching with their K9 team in the morning.

^ Thanks for this summary, I wonder if Mickey had issues before with guys slowing or trying to talk to her, that she made sure to have her mace open and ready before she left Brettly's house?

I've been reading everything I can find on her case because it just seems like she disappeared without a trace shortly after having been seen on cameras. I keep jumping from one theory to another, thinking maybe she accepted a ride from someone she knew and it went bad, or she had planned all along to go to some bf's house on the way home that no one knew about - and that went bad, to thinking someone bumped her on purpose to grab her.

Even with the extra search effort, however, police report no new information in the University of Louisiana college student's mysterious May 19 disappearance, despite the national interest it has piqued.

"There's no new updates," said Cpl. Kyle Soriez, spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department. "We're not following any more or any new leads than what we had previous. Tips are coming in, but there's nothing new the investigators are working on."

Soriez had no prior knowledge of Special K-9s' involvement in the case before he received media calls about the group.

Special K-9s is not affiliated with Texas Equusearch or the Lafayette Police Department and began land-based searches Wednesday. The group conducts searches with dogs that can distinguish between animal and human bodies while searching water, land, ash and vehicles.

Carencro resident Mike Candella, who has an interest in forensic dogs, contacted Special K-9s after following the Shunick case for the past two weeks.

"My only goal here is to help the family," Candella said. "I'm not aligned with Equusearch or LPD. We're strictly on our own. Our goal is strictly to find Mickey."

Meanwhile, volunteers continued to arrive at Blackham Coliseum to participate in search team sweeps in and around Lafayette Parish.

Jennifer Thompson has followed the Shunick case from the start. She participated in her first search effort Wednesday.

"We heard about it on the news this morning that they needed more volunteers, and we were off of work today," Thompson said. "And we know that if it would be our daughter or sister or mother, we would want people to come out with us and search."

Most of the volunteers are returning veterans, however. Kevin Chachere and Pascalle Duhamel have volunteered on a daily basis. Chachere has no ties to the Shunick family, but Duhamel describes Shunick as a close friend and someone who would return the favor if the situation were reversed.

"I just, I know it sounds kind of cliché — but I felt a kind of calling to do it," said Chachere.

Volunteering is a physically draining and emotional experience, the pair said.

"You try to prepare yourself if you find anything," said Pascalle, who met Shunick through horse riding lessons. "You don't know how you're going to deal with it if you actually find anything. You don't know how you would react to it."

Ultimately, Duhamel believes her friend is still alive, she said.

"I was thinking," Duhamel said, "if I was somebody to kidnap somebody and just drop off her bike, I would want to drop off everything with it. So that's why I think she's still alive, and I'm trying to keep a positive mentality of it. She's still alive. She's still alive, and she wants us to still search for her."

A private investigator hired to help find missing Louisiana college student Mickey Shunick believes that he may have information about a suspect.

John Abdella, a P.I. hired by private donors trying to help solve the case, told ABC News affiliate KATC that he has received two tips from independent sources describing the same person.

“And their description was almost identical,” said Abdella.

Abdella noted there may be two credible suspects in the case, based on the tips he has received in the past week.

“They appear to be very credible and they appear to be very knowledgeable,” Abdella told KATC. “And I thought it was more than coincidental that both of their descriptions were the same.”

Abdella said he plans to meet with police to share his information about the leads.

For Shunick’s family, Abdella’s information is welcome news as they try to stay focused on finding Shunick.

“Hopefully it takes us somewhere in the next couple of days,” the missing woman’s brother Charlie Shunick said.

“Everything we are doing, everything that’s going on here, everything people are doing is to find Mickey. It has nothing to do with anything else. Our goal is to find my sister,” Charlie Shunick told KATC.

Abdella said he believes that the Lafayette police, who are the lead agency on the case, are working hard to find Shunick, 21, who disappeared in May while riding her bicycle home from her friend’s house in the middle of the night. Shunick’s bicycle was later found badly damaged under a bridge about 30 minutes from where she disappeared.“It’s a very active investigation,” said Abdella. “And I think the police are very, very active, they are putting in a lot of man power, they’re spending a lot of overtime.”Abdella did not return calls for comment.

Mickey Shunick New Developments: Is There a Suspect?June 08, 2012 03:50 AM EDT

Mickey Shunick vanished 20 days ago and it doesn't appear that there are any new developments as far as her whereabouts. Fortunately a private investigator is working this case and he claims that there are solid leads indicating that there is in fact a suspect in this case. So who could this potential perpetrator be and what did he or she do with Michaela Shunick?

P.I. John Abdella was hired by an anonymous donor to investigate the disappearance of missing anthropology major Mickey Shunick. He claims to have received two leads that are similar to the point that he feels there will be a break in the case. He said two different sources gave him nearly the same descriptions, leading him to believe that they are credible enough to lead in the right direction. Neither of the sources know one another, allegedly.

"I thought it was more than coincidental that both of their descriptions were the same," said Abdella.

He's probably right and it's a good thing that he is meeting with law enforcement so as to get a move on this investigation in case the suspect (or suspects) is in the area. He has more information but he is refusing to clarify for the stability of this case.

As for the rumors that this case is going cold: it's not. In order for a case to be legally "cold" it must reach a year old and then be closed due to lack of leads and evidence. Michaela "Mickey" Shunick has only been missing for a little under one month. It's also still very active with leads coming in to the authorities nearly daily. It's important to pay close attention to all of the details before assuming that a case is going cold. There are some cases that are even older than a year that aren't cold cases such as the disappearance of Lauren Spierer, who has been connected in speculation to the disappearance of Shunick. Go figure.

Could this suspect be someone who drives the white truck seen in surveillance? Could this alleged suspect be someone who knows about the disposal of Mickey's bike? Hopefully more information comes out soon! In the meantime, it's a good idea to point out that Texas Equusearch was not back in the area earlier this week as previously reported. Another volunteer search group, on the other hand, is active in Lafayette.

In the case of missing 22-year-old Mickey Shunick, various media outlets are reporting that the private investigator hired by her family may have obtained new information in her whereabouts. The PI says he has credible information about two people who may be involved in the disappearance of Mickey Shunick.According to KPEL Radio, the PI says two people who don’t know each other called him with “almost identical descriptions.” “The calls were made days apart, and he believes something good will come out of this.”

The investigator has declined to comment on the leads, but has turned over the information to police. Police have been searching for a white pickup truck they believe to have been in the same area the time Mickey went missing. We will continue to follow this story, and as soon as we receive any information from police we will pass it along to all of you here and On-Air.

The Shunick family and Police ask that if you have any information in the whereabouts of Mickey Shunick, please call the Lafayette Police Tip Line at (337) 291-8633 or the private investigator at (337) 235-0270.

Wrapitup wrote:I seriously can't believe she hasn't been found yet. I doubt she is alive. Maybe she did accept a ride from someone. In all you've searched, Sam, did she have a bf?

Sorry, Wrap, I've been gone for a few days. None of her friends or sister mentioned her having a bf, but there was some speculation in various comments on news articles that she may have turned off on Brashear to go to someone's home and that she wasn't on her way home at all. That was just opinion though, no fact.

Brettly said in his original interview that he and Mickey were planning to move and live together, but that they were just friends and had no sexual relationship and he was "fine with that." (He also made a comment about how he and Mickey used to have contests to see who could pick up a guy first, so maybe he just wasn't interested in her.)

When I watch Brettly speak, I see a happy, upbeat person who is easy to get along with. I see young man who is social awkward, and yet liked by people. I see nothing in these videos that stands out to me as inappropriate or questionable. Brettly shows true sadness and concern for his friend.http://blog.eyesforlies.com/search/label/Brettly%20Wilson

Mickey Shunick was reported missing nearly a month ago and there have been very few updates in the past several days. Why has there been so much silence lately, and will this missing anthropology major ever be found? Her disappearance shares so many similarities with other missing womens cases in the southern and Midwest United States that it's too hard to ignore.

In four days the disappearance of Mickey Shunick will be on its one-month-mark, and as many people are aware the first 48 to 72 hours are the most vital in cases such as these. Does that mean there is no hope in finding her alive? Absolutely not, but the chances continue to dwindle with each day that passes.

The cases that share similarities with this one haven't been solved either, and some of them are over a year old. The disappearance of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer immediately comes to mind, as does the strange disappearance of Tennessee woman Holly Bobo. It seems that there is a 700 mile radius of missing women that are all petite, attractive and blonde. Most importantly it seems that these girls are either all students or somehow involved in making the world a better place. Holly Bobo was a nursing student, Michaela "Mickey" Shunick is an anthropology major and Lauren Spierer a fashion major who was beating the odds against her congenital heart defect.

Will Mickey Shunick ever be found? It's too soon to tell, but hope is absolutely important to hold onto in times like these. Hopefully more details come out in this young woman's case, for the better.

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -It's been one month since University of Louisiana- Lafayette student Mickey Shunick went missing.

Search efforts have scaled back, but family and friends say they have not given up. It has been a little more than a week since they shut down the massive volunteer searches that were based out of Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette. They still have a smaller headquarters running out of a lafayette shopping center.

Even though they haven't gotten any major leads in about 3 weeks, Shunick's family and friends say they refuse to let her face be forgotten, posting flyers all over the state and country.

Shunick was last seen riding her bike home from a friend's house at about 2 a.m. Investigators found her bike damaged in the Whiskey Bay area.

Shunick's loved ones asked for a moment of silence in her honor at midnight through the "Find Mickey Shunick Now" Facebook page to mark one month since her dissapearance.